When it comes to the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the face of COVID-19 it has become clear that many firms in the public face are hesitant to make a stand when it will likely cost them money.

Case in point is a situation developing with aging rocker Neil Young and Spotify. This week, Young posted a letter to his website that has since been deleted. That letter was addressed to his management team record label and called for his music to be removed from Spotify.

“I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” read the letter. Young is referring specifically to Joe Rogan’s presence on Spotify. The podcast host has sowed controversy many times over the pandemic and calls to remove him from Spotify have followed close behind.

“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” Young wrote according to a Rolling Stone report. “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”

It seems, however, that Neil Young’s presence on Spotify isn’t important enough for Spotify to consider removing Joe Rogan. While Young draws in little over six million listeners per month, that is dwarfed by Rogan’s listeners per episode.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Spotify won’t be removing Joe Rogan from its platform and that means that Young is free to remove his music if he wants.

“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators,” a Spotify spokesperson told the WSJ.

“We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon,” the firm said.

As of time of writing, Young’s music is still on Spotify though for how long is an unknown at this stage.

To be frank, we’re not sure what Young was thinking here. Spotify losing an aging rockstar is likely not that big of a loss compared to the edge-lords and sundry Rogan pulls in with the content he peddles. We do believe that the misinformation that is being spread through that podcast is unacceptable and it’s time Spotify decided how it was going to tackle the problem.

Perhaps if more artists with a larger following speak out, Spotify would feel the pressure but this recent news showcases that Spotify is going to need big names to leave or threaten as much for it to feel the pressure. Sadly, money talks and Rogan brings home the bacon and that’s more valuable than a heart of gold.